Apparatus for producing controlled lighting effects



H. B. GROW July 13 1954 APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING CONTROLLED LIGHTING EFFECTS Filed April 30 1951 INVENTOR. gar/ow Grow Mum ATTORNEYS.

Patented July 13, 1954 UNETED STATES FATENT OFFICE APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING CONTROLLED LIGHTING EFFECTS 1 Claim.

This invention relates to an apparatus for producing controlled lighting effects upon an object to be viewed and/or televised and which is particularly adapted for quiz show broadcasts, the

cipal ohjects being to provide means for ren- .c g an object visible in silhouette, in full illumination, or in intermediate degrees of illumina ticn; to provide the illuminating means effective gh a given time period; to provide manual s for controlling the lighting effects during time period as set by the timing means; and to effect full illumination of the object responsive to completion of the time period.

her objects of the invention are to provide a projecting screen and lens system whereby an image of the illuminated object is projected. on the screen; and to provide means for televising the image.

in accomplishing these and other objects of the invention hereinafter pointed out, I have provided improved structure, the preferred form of which illustrated in the accompanying drawing wherein:

l is a perspective schematic view of the lighting and televising apparatus set up in accordance with the present invention.

2 is a longitudinal section through the apparatus showing the electrical controls and circuits for energizing the lighting means.

Referring more in detail to the drawings:

i desi tcs. an apparatus constructed and arranged in accordance with the present invention for illuminating and televising an object 2. The object 2 may he carried on a suitable support 3 that is located in front of a light diffusion screen l. Located to the rear of the diffusing screen is a plurality of lighting elements 5 preferably comprising flood lights that are adapted to spread light over the diffusion screen and onset a silhouette of the object 2 when the object is viewed from the front side or" the diffusion screen. Located on the front side of the support 3 are lighting elements 6 in the form of flood lights for directing light rays directly on the front of the object 2, the lighting elements being suitably carried by supports l and B.

The respective lighting elements 5 and 6 are adapted to be energized and controlled so that the efiect oi the lighting elements 5 on the object are in inverse proportion to the effects of the lighting elements 5. That is, when the lighting elements are in full sheet, the lighting elements 6 are turned oh" and as the lighting elements 5 are dimmed the lighting elements 6 are correspondingly increased in brightness.

This is effected, in accordance with the present invention, by providing a source of current supply as indicated at 9, Fig. 2, and providing each so of lighting elements 5 and 6 with an electric cir cuit including conductors !DH and 42-43 respectively. The conductors i it and i2 and one side of the source of current supply may be grounded as indicated at [4, l5 and IS. The other conductors H and I8 are respectively connected with a rheostat mechanism I? which in the illustrated instance includes resistances l8 and i9 which may be of any suitable type, for example, resistance coils arranged in arcuate form on opposite di ametrical sides of a contact rotor 29 carrying arms 25 and 22 movable in direct contact with the respective resistance elements, with the arm 2| contacting the resistance element It at one end thereof and the arm 22 in contact with the opposite end of the resistance element is. (Jonnected to the contact rotor 20 and in electrical connection with the contact arms 2i and 22 is a conductor 23 that is in turn connected with a conductor 2d through a timing device 25, the con-- ductor 24 being connected with the source of current supply 9.

The timing device 25 may be a spring wound or electric motor actuated type to trip a contact arm 26 between fixed contacts 2'? and 28. The contact 27 is connected with the conductor 23 and cooperates with the contact arm 25 in closing circuit through the resistance elements and the contact 28 is connected by a conductor is with the conductor [3 to cooperate with the contact arm 26 in closing circuit directly to the lighting elements 6. The contact arm 25 engages the fixed contact Zl to close the circuits through the rheostat elements but after the elapse of a given time period the arm trips to open the resistance circuits and engages the contact 2 to close circuit to the lights 5 indicating the end of the time period.

When the contact arm 2i engages the resistance 18 as indicated in Fig. 2, a full flow of current is established through the conductor 2 3, contact arm 26, contact 2?, conductor 23, rotor 29, contact arm 2|, and conductor H through the lighting elements 5 to ground Hi and thereby efiect full illumination of the elements 5.

Also in this position of the control mechanism, the contact arm 22 is in a position so that the resistance element I9 is fully effective in the circuit including the conductor [3 so that the current flow therethrough is not sufiicient to energize the lighting elements 6; consequently, the object appears in silhouette when viewed from the front.

In order that the lighting elements may be inversely operated, the contact rotor 23 is actuated by a motor 30 that may be of electrical type and supplied with an actuating current through the conductors 31 and 32 that are connected with the suitable current supply as indicated at 33, a manually controlled switch 34 being inserted in one of the conductors for opening and closing the circuit to efiect periodic operation of the motor so that the contact arms are moved intermittently across the resistances l8 and 19. Thus the lighting elements 5 become progressively ineffective as the lighting elements 6 become brighter thereby resulting in gradual facial illumination of the object 2.

As above stated, it is the purpose of the present invention to televise or telecast an image of the object and this is effected in the apparatus illustrated by means of a translucent projection screen 36 on which an image of the object 2 is projected by means of a lens system 31 which is of a type to produce an erect image 38. The image 38 may be viewed on the screen 36 and the view telecast by means of a television camera 39. The rheostat means I! may include a pointer it movable over a calibrated scale ll to indi- In using the apparatus as illustrated and de- L scribed, for example in conducting a televised quiz program, a contestant is positioned in front of the projection screen 35 and in position so that the image 38 and his actions and answers are televised for the entertainment of studio and television audiences.

An object 2 of any form may be placed on the support 3 and the contestant is given a predetermined time to identify the object from the silhouette thereof that is projected on the screen 31.

Ihe timer 25 is set for a time period, say 6i! seconds, with the contact arm 23 engaging the fixed contact 2': and the contact arms 2! and 22 of the control mechanism are placed in position shown in Fig. 2. In these positions of the contact arms a full fiow of current is established through the conductor 24, contact arm 26, contact 2i, conductor contact arm 2|, and conductor l i, to eiiect full illumination of the lighting elements 5. During this period an insulicient or low current is flowing through the conductor 3 to energize the lighting elements for the reason that the entire resistance element i9 is in circuit.

If the contestant can recognize the object from the silhouette he attains the highest award. But assuming that the contestant fails to identify the object from the silhouette, the contestant closes the switch 35 so that the motor 32 is efiective in moving the contact arms 2| and 22 over the rheostat elements 2% and 21 and thereby effect reduction of the current to the lighting elements 5 and gradual increase of current to the lighting elements 8 as the motor effects movement of the contact arms 21 and 22 over the resistance elements.

The contestant opens the motor circuit by means of the switch 33 as soon as he identifies the object which must be before the contact arm 26 of the timer engages the contact 28 or the score does not count. Various scores may be used, for example, if the contestant identifies the silhouette, he scores I99; if he uses one-half the direct illumination, he scores 50; and if full illumination is required, he receives the minimum award or consolation prize.

If a contestant is interviewed over the telephone in his own home, the projection screen and projection system would not be necessary, in which case the object 2 would be directly telecast with the telecast appearing in silhouette and the object gradually illuminated by the quizzer until an answer is given or until the timer 25 functions to flash on all the light elements 6.

From the foregoing it is obvious that I have provided an illuminating apparatus which may be used in connection with televised contest programs wherein the contestant manually controls his score for the time required in making his answer to the question concerning the character of the object telecast.

While I have particularly illustrated and described the apparatus as including a. projection screen and lens system between the camera and the object, it is obvious that the screen and lens system may be eliminated and the object directly viewed and/0r televised without distinguishing from the spirit of the invention.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

In an apparatus for viewing an object from silhouette to full illumination in a selected period of time, a light source for illuminating an object in silhouette, a light source for fully illuminating the object, circuits for supplying an electrical current to the light sources, rhecstat means in said circuits for rendering the light sources effective in inverse ratio, a motor connected with the rheostat means for actuating said rheostat means, an electric circuit for supplying current to the motor, a manually operable switch in the motor circuit to effect manual operation of the rheostat means during said selected time period, a time switch for establishing said selected time period, a by pass circuit connected with the last named light source, said time switch having two positions, one in connection with the light source circuit through said rheostat means and the other having connection with the by pass circuit to effect said full illumination of said object independently of the rhccstat means after said time switch has operated to end said selected time period, and a current source connected with the time switch for energizing the circuits to the light sources as controlled by the respective positions of the time switch.

teferences Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 745,488 Goltz Dec. 1, 1903 777,115 Louis 1 Dec. 13, 1904 1,031,542 Fielding July 2, 1912 1,372,969 McCormick Mar. 29, 1921 1,483,710 Black Feb. 12, 192% 1,649,689 Hassit Nov. 15, 1927 2,053,155 La Roque Sept. 1, 1936 2,244,687 Goldsmith June 10, 1941 

